Every year, in the middle of September, I get to experience my favorite music festival in my hometown of Chicago. Riot Fest somehow outdoes itself every year with incredible line ups and after shows. This year was no exception. This year was a bit more special because my boys in Sleep On It got to open the main stage on the first day.
It was an incredible sight to see as this is their hometown and they've worked their way up the ranks in the city and specifically the Riot Fest line ups over the years. Opening a stage that would be followed by Four Year Strong, State Champs, The Story So Far, Mayday Parade and A Day To Remember must've been a dream for the dudes. It was a proud dad moment for me! Here's a video of their set closer "Unspoken". Around the 2:00 mark in the video, El Mercho Loco aka Alex Fucking Smith accompanied by the boys in Grayscale start throwing a bunch of Good Future Club shirts into the crowd. That was dope. Also, their new record 'Overexposed' comes out on November 3rd on Equal Vision Records. It's such a ripper for any fan of pop punk. We grew up on the same bands/records and they made a record that fits right in with all those classics.
After Sleep On It, I caught State Champs. They always bring it and the crowd was super loud. Their newest record, Around The World And Back Again, is a pop punk gem. It reminds me of glory days New Found Glory and I haven't heard a band nail it like that in a long time.
Throughout the day, I got to see a ton of friends finished the day at the fest with The Story So Far, Mayday Parade, Vic Mensa, A Day To Remember and Nine Inch Nails. Pretty ridiculous line up. After that, I jumped in an Uber to hit the New Found Glory/Bayside after show at Concord Music Hall. Both bands of such insanely stacked catalogs that it must be the hardest conversations to pick set lists. You forget how many great songs both bands have put out over the last 15-20 years.
That was a super long day of music but I woke up early to grab an early lunch with friends from Workshop Management, Equal Vision Records, Hopeless Records, Spotlight Touring and Fueled By Ramen. We had these incredible things called Horse Shoes. It's a sandwich covered in fries covered in cheese sauce. Yeah, like I said, it's incredible. I contemplated a nap after that but got back over to the fest to catch friends in Knuckle Puck (I somehow didn't get a photo but they ruled as always.) Then I caught Bayside, Fidlar (first time seeing live and whoa, just as good as the records) and The Lawrence Arms (pictured below).
I sadly had to miss New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, Wu Tang Clan and At The Drive In because Fall Out Boy was playing at the House Of Blues. There's a few rules in life and seeing Fall Out Boy in Chicago is always one of them. Got to bump into a lot of old friends at the show and it's always great to see the dudes. Also, they came out to the Chicago Bulls entrance music which was perfect.
Sunday at Riot Fest is always an interesting day. People walk a little slower, they're all sunburnt and tired but you have to rally up because the line up doesn't let up at all. Beach Slang into Hot Water Music into Real Friends into Say Anything into The Menzingers into the almighty Paramore. I somehow took no photos and only small 15 second videos on Sunday (again, tired and forgetful) but take my word for it that it was a hell of a finish to the fest. After that, I shot over to the Bottom Lounge to see my dudes in Sleep On It fulfill another dream of theirs by opening for Taking Back Sunday.
We'll call this shot of me and my boy TJ Horansky "Good dudes that think alike". In all seriousness, we can't thank the Sleep On It boys for always supporting Good Future Club. Below is a shot of me and my dude Erick Charles. I've worked with Erick for almost a decade and recently re-joined him at Fueled By Ramen and Roadrunner Records. He's one of my favorite people in the world.
After Sleep On It had another killer set, TBS came on and ripped through a super long set list. Finally at 1:30am, it was time to call it a weekend. Until next year Riot Fest, thnks fr th mmrs. - Johnny
First off, this band is incredible. We've got a lot of ties to LIMBS at GFC but first and foremost, we're just huge fans. They super rad and down to run around Laguna Beach with us even though they had been on tour with Hail The Sun and Capsize for weeks and hadn't slept much the days leading up to it. Nonetheless, they were true champs and showed up to help us out. They're basically the faces of the company at this point which is rad! How'd that photoshoot line up? Well, about a year back, our friend Andrew Cramb at Royal Division Management was texting me about this new band he got introduced to. He said they were super heavy and he was checking the out at So What!? Fest in Dallas. He proceeded to send me videos of their set that night. I recall being super impressed by their live show which included incredible homemade lights and the band sounded great (even through an iPhone video recording). He was saying he thought they were really cool live and that they were super nice guys that grew up not too far from his hometown in Florida. He then sent over some songs that they had recently released and I think a few others that they were gearing up to roll out in the coming months. The songs reminded me of some of my favorites in heavy music from the past like The Bled's 'Pass The Flask' album and catalogs from Poison The Well and Underoath. I immediately punished Andrew to continually tell him how rad I thought the band was and kept asking him why he wasn't already working with them. He kept saying he'd like to get involved but was super busy and he was just getting to know the dudes. I reached out him about every 5 days for a few weeks and kept repeating myself. I think he got sick of it so he picked the band up. He proceeded to keep me in the loop with songs, tours, etc. At this point, I worked at Equal Vision Records and randomly, Francesca at EVR brought them up to me. She raved about how great the songs were completely unbeknownst that I also loved the songs. We immediately started talking to the band to get to know them a bit more, hear their plans and also learned that Tim from Underoath was a part of their growth from a producer and management stand point. I got to have lunch with Tim and Andrew at a killer brewery where we spoke about our love for the band and how we thought they were doing something really special in heavy music. Today, they announced that signing to Equal Vision and released a newly recorded version of their song "Poison" w/ a music video. I can't wait to see what this band continues to do and will always be a fan. -Johnny
Here's a quick look at the beginning stages of Good Future Club straight from the print shop! We linked up with a great company called Absolute Merch right in our backyard in beautiful Orange County, California. They were very instrumental in helping us bring our designs and prints to life. We appreciate your eyes and ears. Spread some positivity today!
The main thing we’ve always wanted to do is to spread positivity. Major or minor, you're never too busy to help someone. Whether it's promoting something someone is doing, or giving someone a compliment and empowering them, or taking a minute to listen to their story. Even if it’s just listening to remind someone that they’re not alone. We’re all looking for the same thing in life and are always in the pursuit of happiness. Everything you do can affect someone in a positive way. We think it would have a huge impact if more people took a focused approach to making someone else's life even a tad bit better or easier. Remind someone that they're great at what they’re doing. Instill confidence. Teach integrity and empathy. Find the things that inspire you and keep adding fuel to those fires. Do away with cynicism and promote optimism in every scenario. As cheesy as it is, we want to change the world and make it a better place for everyone. Period. Start today and make someone's day better.
Welcome to the Good Future Club. Everyone's welcome.
